Wicklow waste contractor jailed and fined for illegal dumping

A West Wicklow waste contractor was fined £4,500 and jailed for 18 months for illegal dumping at Naas District Court yesterday.

Andrew Phibbs, who runs a waste disposal business in the Blessington area, pleaded guilty last September to three offences on foot of summonses served under the 1996 Waste Management Act.

At yesterday's hearing, Judge Murrow B. Connellan sentenced Phibbs to six months in jail for each of the three offences, to run consecutively.

He also fined Phibbs the maximum fine of £1,500 on each offence.

Phibbs was one of eight contractors whose names were supplied to householders by Wicklow County Council as an alternative waste contractor when the council withdrew from the waste collection business in January.

Wicklow County Council visited a house belonging to Phibbs near Hempstown, north of Blessington village, and had observed dumping there.

The visit followed a series of complaints, many of which were made by Phibbs's neighbour and sister-in-law, Ms Jo Phibbs.

At the time she made the complaints to the council, Ms Phibbs also told The Irish Times that the waste was being stacked six feet deep on the other side of her garden wall.

Ms Phibbs said she had suffered considerable nuisance from vermin and noise.

The county council said it had visited Andrew Phibbs's property again on May 24th last and saw that he was still engaged in the recovery of waste contrary to the provisions of the Waste Management Act.

Two of the summonses served on Phibbs related to his operation of the dump on March 27th and May 24th last.

The third related to non-compliance with an order to cease activity. The order was made under Section 55 of the Waste Management Act.

The acting Wicklow county secretary, Mr Liam Fitzpatrick, welcomed the conviction, describing it as a "vindication of a lot of detailed work and determination".

Asked if the council was satisfied that all rubbish collected by Phibbs was accounted for, Mr Fitzpatrick said he would prefer not to comment.

He added that investigations were continuing and said the court result could be read as a symbol of the council's intention to pursue all illegal activity in relation to dumping.

Meanwhile, a Wicklow Fine Gael TD, Mr Billy Timmins, has called on all the health boards and private hospitals to outline what procedures they have in place to deal with their medical waste.

Mr Timmins said that one would be na∩ve to think that Wicklow was the only county suffering from illegal waste, and that it was essential that the relevant authorities reassured the public that they had their house in order.

He also called on all local authorities to issue statements saying that they were satisfied that there was no hazardous waste dumped in the landfills under their operation.